Public Speaking Lessons Learned
Real advice for real people
I have been blessed with more than my share of public speaking opportunities over the years. Never a “natural” public speaker (few are), I found myself working harder and harder to do better, especially as visibility and the stakes increased. We’ve all seen folks “bomb” up there; it’s hard to watch and much worse to experience. Conversely, when you know you killed it, you just feel it and it is exhilarating. It can also add a lot of value to your company and to your personal brand. Here are some tricks I have learned over the time.
Know what you know / Say what you know. In other words, be realistic about the subject matter and the audience. In some cases it is much better to hand it off to someone more qualified, including to more knowledgeable subordinates. If you have 50 or even hundreds of people in a room listening to you for 30 -40 minutes you owe it to them and your company to make sure you are advancing their knowledge. Also, covering the defined session topic is great, but when in doubt say what you know and are an expert on.
You are not alone. Do not be afraid to crowdsource your message. Some of the best talks I have given are ones where I called diverse group of experts and stakeholders into a room and we developed the message together. Also, if your company has communications folks, use them! They can help you a great deal and will be thrilled when your actively seek out their help. Also ask for on-the-spot feedback after each talk from one of these professionals.
It’s not about charts. Your charts should be high quality and supportive of the topic, but as a speaker, if you are turning around to look at the charts that’s a major red flag. Ideally you are talking, and the charts are a seamless harmony to your melody. Some very effective speakers only put photographs on their charts to remind them what they are saying at that time. Do what makes the most sense for the subject matter, but really you should be ready to give your talk with no charts, if needed.
Record. Listen. Repeat. A few years ago, I started using a voice recorder and later a smartphone application to record myself while practicing. No one likes to hear the sound of their own voice on a recording. Too bad. Do it anyway. This is especially important for the first few minutes of your talk, which is where most talks succeed or fail. If your first couple of minutes are smooth, organized and confident it bodes well for the rest of your talk when your heart rate will have calmed down. A way I use the recorder is to do a full run through of the talk while alone, and then listen to the whole thing while taking notes. You’ll hear lots of things you do not like. Then do it again. It will be much improved. If you are feeling very confident in the talk and the subject matter, three run throughs may be enough. For me that’s two the day before and one that morning. For a bigger talk and more complex subject matter, it may need to be practiced many times.
Embrace your nervousness. It is normal to be nervous. In some cases, the stakes are high, and if you are not nervous you should be worried. Remember the vast majority of folks are just glad they are in the audience and not on stage. I always found having co-workers present to be the most nerve wracking. You do not want to let them down. There is also a tendency to double process; thinking about what you are saying while also what you think your collogues are thinking about what you are saying. This is obviously not what you want to do. That is why that pre-socialization is important.
Day of the talk “tricks”. The day of the talk and in the room, itself is where my routine comes into play.
Trick 1: Sit as far in the front as you can. Biggest mistake you can make is to sit in the back of the room and walk to the stage and turn around and see all those faces for the first time. This will maximize your nervousness. As a rule, I always sit as far forward as possible and actively look at the audience for as long as possible before I talk.
Trick 2: It may seem strange, but I always eat a piece of chocolate right before I speak publicly. It may be a mental crutch, but I feel it gives me a bit of extra energy. If you are speaking right after lunch, skip the large lunch just before you speak.
Trick 3: After you introduce yourself and your topic, thank your hosts, etc.., refer to something that has happened in the room that day. Anything can work. The point is to establish that you are really there, and not just regurgitating something. Ideally it would be something a previous speaker said that day. Seems trivial but you’d be surprised.
Again, I am not a self-professed communications expert. That said, I hope some of these tips are useful to you and your speaking endeavors.
